I finally bought a skidder

[Barnie]

Nice skidder. I wish I had a skidder with a cab. The 540 is a nice machine, but it's wicked tippy. I have ner roled mine over, but I have hat tires off the ground before. You will get used to, just make sure you cut your stumps down. How many chokers do you have on it? I have 10 on my 540D.

I have 6--8 foot chokers on it right now and I have the two choker leads empty, I'll buy new chokers to fill the empty leads next week I guess.
ever have any trouble with your skidder, engine wise or other trouble???
the cab is nice for sure, the heater works good too and when summer rolls around the plexiglass windows will come out.

 

[mercer_me]

I have 6--8 foot chokers on it right now and I have the two choker leads empty, I'll buy new chokers to fill the empty leads next week I guess.
ever have any trouble with your skidder, engine wise or other trouble???
the cab is nice for sure, the heater works good too and when summer rolls around the plexiglass windows will come out.

I have never had any engine trouble. Rite now when I releas the winch cable it won't let cable out, so I have to pull some cable in then it will release. I think I'm going to have to rebuild the winch again. Does your 540 have air conditioning?

 

[Barnie]

I have never had any engine trouble. Rite now when I releas the winch cable it won't let cable out, so I have to pull some cable in then it will release. I think I'm going to have to rebuild the winch again. Does your 540 have air conditioning?

How long ago did you rebuild the winch??? did it cost alot to do?? and no it does not have air conditioning. does yours??

 

[mercer_me]

How long ago did you rebuild the winch??? did it cost alot to do?? and no it does not have air conditioning. does yours??

I rebuilt the winch the fall of 2008. Mine doesn't have AC and it doesn't have closed in cab like yours.

 

[Barnie]

I rebuilt the winch the fall of 2008. Mine doesn't have AC and it doesn't have closed in cab like yours.

whats the year of your machine?? how often do you change oils on it, Sorry for all the questions but I'm new at the maintanance game, I drove alot of heavy equipment over the years but never had to maintain any of it.

 

[blackdiesel]

I like to gease mine every 10-12 hours and change the oil around 200 hours. How may guys are you working? Hauling it off with just a trailer and a 3/4 ton will take a long time. How far do you have to haul it? Alot of times I just haul in a 1 ton, but when I get behind I haul in my 22' 10 wheeler dump truck. Doe's the gov. charge you for the wood? do they let you clear cut? Do they let you setup and process it on their land? hardwood or soft?

 

[tramp bushler]

Nice skidder. I wish I had a skidder with a cab. The 540 is a nice machine, but it's wicked tippy. I have ner roled mine over, but I have hat tires off the ground before. You will get used to, just make sure you cut your stumps down. How many chokers do you have on it? I have 10 on my 540D.

.
.Mercer , did you load the tires on your skidder with calcium cloride /water mixture ...... Really does stabilize a skidder or wheel loader ..

 

[redprospector]

we also put on the engine covers today, the one thing that bothers me about these engine covers is what if there's a fire in the engine compartment will there be enough extinguisher getting through the grating on the covers to put out a fire.
something to think about I guess.

The best advice I can give on fires on the skidder is keep things as clean as possible, and keep battery cables, etc. in good shape.
It dosen't matter how well you maintain the machine, you will get oil, and sticks, leaves, and needles in the bottom of the pan's. It has to be kept cleaned out.
I had a fire in my 440, it was under the floor board. Positive battery cable came loose from a clip holding it up, and was worn bare by the brake linkage untill it shorted out and caught the muck in the pan on fire. Only one little gap I could squirt the extinguisher in, but it put it out. Scared me pretty good. I learned that cleaning her out is a big part of maintenance, no fires since. Make sure your starter's not dragging, that's a good source of engine fire too.

Andy